First Demonic Dragon

The last time that Courtney opened her door and found all of her parents standing outside of it was when she got caught smoking weed in high school.

Having extra parents almost never seems daunting or scary until they show up all at once, and they're not giggling, smiling, or groping each other.

In instances where they were straight-faced and their gazes were unwavering, they were a terror to behold.

"I-I didn't do it!"

Abaddon and his wives looked at each other in confusion.

"We... didn't accuse you of anything?"

"R-Right, but I'm just saying that even if you did accuse me of something, I have done nothing, so there's nothing for you to accuse me of and-"

"Courtney, baby, how much coffee have you had this morning?" Lisa placed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

"...A couple cups."

"No more of that then."

"Yes, ma'am..." Courtney lowered her head.

She finally looked at her father again and realized he looked and felt a little different than before.

But Courtney was still working on pinpointing which of her new senses meant what, so she had no idea what to make of her dad now.

"...Growth spurt, huh?"

Abaddon smiled. "Little bit. May we come in?"

Courtney gulped and looked over her shoulder. "Uhhh sure. Just please don't be weird.."

"Weirddd..?" Tatiana brought a hand to her chest; offended. "When have your parents ever been weird?"

Courtney wanted to point out that absolutely nothing about her parents was normal, but she figured it would be a moot point to make.

She finally led her parents into her room. Unlike most of her siblings, Courtney really only has a single room with a bathroom and a balcony. Granted, her room is well over 800 square feet... but everyone else in the house considers it to be small.

In the corner of the room, furthest away from the door, Aj was neatly positioned between a cupboard and a bathroom wall.

"G-Good morning, everyone... Wonderful weather we're having, huh?"

Aj fit in with the family like a hand in a glove. He was polite with a good personality and a decent sense of humor.

He was usually out in the open and following Courtney around everywhere, but whenever it seemed like there was an opportunity for someone to misunderstand something, he became slightly timid.

Abaddon would never complain about this. He wished everyone would stay away from his sweet, innocent children forever.

"Andrew, what are you doing over there?" Lillian pursed her lips. "Come out."

"I dunno, he looks comfortable where he is..." Abaddon whistled.

Lillian punched him.

"Listen to me, boy. It's a bad idea to follow when Death beckons you." Abaddon insisted.

This time, all of his wives punched him. And finally, he had to put his jokes to a stop.

Aching all over, Abaddon went over to Courtney's bed and flopped into it.

He turned his head exactly ninety degrees to the side and came face to face with a grotesque, realistic Chucky doll.

"...I have no idea how you sleep with this thing."

Movement came from underneath Courtney's blankets, and a miniature blue kunpeng burst into view.

"Kyyuu!"

"Okay, now that one's a little bit more understandable."

Courtney gave her father a hard nudge as she scooped up both her pet and her doll. "How many times do I have to tell you, they're both part of my aesthetic. Likes yours is expensive cigars and cheap cognac."

"HEY!" Abaddon said pointedly.

"And college football."

"... Okay, when you're right, you're right."

One by one, Abaddon's wives also climbed into Courtney's bed and circled her like when she was a child.

At some point, she noticed that the looks they were giving her were extremely sentimental.

She had seen these kinds of looks before. She knew what they meant.

But she just couldn't believe it.

"Oh my god...I have cancer again."

"""WHAT?! NO!!"""

Courtney was hit over his head by a barrage of pillows from her super-abled parents. "Ow!? Why else are you guys being so weird and shady!?"

"We're not being shady!" Lailah insisted.

"Well, I am." Audrina flipped her hair back and smiled. "It kind of comes with the territory."

Courtney was unamused. "Shadow puns. Really? You're better than that, Mom."

Audrina sank into the bed with a huff.

"Would someone just please tell me what is going on? Aj and I were kind of in the middle of something."

"A-An innocent something!" Aj yelled from the corner.

Abaddon shot the boy a halfhearted glare that almost sapped the color from his face. Bekka poked his eyes out for his harmless prank.

Seras pulled her daughter into her lap. With the large height disparity between them, Courtney fit snuggly into her body like she was still a child.

"One of these days, I'm going to stop letting you all treat me like a baby... One of these days." Courtney leaned back into the fluffy pillows that were glued to Seras' chest and closed her eyes.

"It's funny you should mention that..." Sif began. "See the thing is, we were wondering just how much you wanted to grow up..."

Courtney opened one eye slowly before closing it.

"I'm still a virgin, ma. Go bother your other kids for more grandchildren."

Aj seemed to have reached his mental limit for the day, because he fainted in the next breath. As he hit the floor, Courtney winced.

"Erm... no. That wasn't quite what we were asking about." Seras revealed.

"...Oh..." Courtney was having a real off morning. She was starting to think it might've been better to stay in bed.

"We just wanted to know how you felt about your powers, dear. How you feel about being what you are now."

"It's cool, I guess." Courtney was unsure of what to say. "I guess I'm still learning a lot, but the family is teaching me some things, so... I'm getting there." She shrugged.

This made her parents look amongst themselves for reasons she couldn't decipher. Her father seemed particularly troubled.

"Can you not have a telepathic conversation while I'm sitting here right next to you?"

Wry smiles appeared on all of their faces.

"Sweetie... the family's about to go through some changes very soon." Valerie finally said.

"I don't want any more moms or siblings."

"Courtney."

"And no divorces."

"Courtney." Everyone said at once.

"Just covering all of my bases..." She muttered.

Abaddon sat up and rested his large hand on top of her head.

"This afternoon, everyone's going to be vacating the house for a bit. Pieces are moving on the board and our family has to set up some defences, you understand?"

She very much did not.

"What kind of defenses..? What kind of pieces?"

Abaddon didn't know if he could give an answer without spooking Courtney. "That... is not important for right now. Just know we want to give you a choice. You can come with us, or you can go with the rest of the family."

"Go where with the others?"

"It's a training excursion with the military." Abaddon admitted. "A very harsh one that I honestly would prefer you not to go on."

"But, it's your choice, honey." Seras said pointedly. "Regardless of what any of us want for you, this is your life and you're old enough to start making choices about what you do with it. We want to support your decision regardless."

Abaddon didn't say anything and lay back down while their daughter continued to ask more questions.

He didn't like this. He didn't like any of it.

Courtney wasn't trained like everyone else. She wasn't even a hundred yet, either.

She was a baby nevi'im who, by all accounts, was still learning how to burp without breathing fire.

Everyone else he could stomach sending off to battle. Just not his baby.

The rest of the family was time tested. Strong. He had absolute confidence that they would come back stronger.

But Courtney was still so young. So vulnerable.

He couldn't imagine the horror that would arise on her face if she laid eyes on Azathoth in all of it's horror. Nor if she was exploring and came across an enemy that wanted to harm her for any matter of reasons.

He couldn't let her go through with this. It just wasn't responsible.

Abaddon sat up once again and started to shut the whole thing down.

"I guess... I'll go wherever Apophis goes." Courtney suddenly said.

"No." Abaddon interrupted. "Sorry, but this was all..."

"Abaddon.." Bekka reached for his arm.

Abaddon pulled away from her suddenly and practically jumped out of the bed.

"Look, I'm sorry for taking you through this whole circus, but just forget it, okay?"

He was slowly backing towards the door, his expression an voice both contained a levity that his mind didn't have.

"I thought you guys said that it was my choice!?" Courtney threw up her arms.

Abaddon paused with his hand on the doorknob. He could tell with just a look that he'd upset her. And silently, he cursed himself for it.

He always did things like this. Said that he was ready for changes until the big ones actually came.

He backed away. He let doubts and paranoia eat him alive from the inside out, until he reverted back to his patterns out of comfort.

Abaddon was tired of disappointing himself, sure. But he was tired of disappointing others more.

Halfway out of the door, he recognized that he had a choice to make. Backwards or forwards.

"...Are you really sure this is what you want?"

Courtney stared at her father resolutely and nodded.

"I am. And I promise that it's going to be okay."

It's a parent's role to comfort their children in times of turmoil. But it is a well-hidden secret just how often that kids end up comforting their parents as well.

Abaddon lowered his head. The last thing he wanted was for Courtney to see his face like this.

"...Pack your bags. You leave this afternoon."